The invention relates to a window lifter assembly for a motor vehicle and a method for its assembly.
Such a window lifter assembly comprises a flexible pulling means for transferring a drive torque produced by a window lifter drive to a window pane of a motor vehicle to be adjusted as well at least one carrier, which is on one hand tied to the flexible pulling means and to which on the other hand the window pane is to be fixed so that the window pane is connected via the carrier to the flexible pulling means.
Such window lifters are designated as cable or pulling means window lifter. Hereby a section of the flexible pulling means designated as adjustment section is guided, for instance by using deflectors, along the adjustment direction of the window pane to be adjusted and moves while operating the window lifter drive along its extension direction. Thereby, the carrier tied to the flexible pulling means, more exact to its adjustment section, is taken along so that said carrier also moves along the adjustment direction. If the window pane to be adjusted is now fixed to said carrier as intended, then said window pane is being adjusted together with the carrier along its adjustment direction, namely for instance—depending on the drive direction—raised or lowered in order to close or release a window opening of a motor vehicle.
At present, guiding means being different from the carrier and being spaced apart from the carrier contact free are provided at the window lifter assembly in order to guide the window pane along a (regularly curved) adjustment path defined by said guiding means, wherein the window pane is moved together with the carrier on said adjustment path, when a driving force is transferred to the window pane via the flexible pulling means and the carrier.
Said guiding means can be in particular one or multiple lateral frame parts, into which the window pane to be adjusted engages with a lateral edge, respectively. Other modifications of the guiding means are also possible; thereby it is of importance that the guiding means differ from the carrier via which the window pane is in connection to the flexible pulling means of the window lifter assembly, and the carrier does not engage with said guiding means, namely is being spaced apart from said guiding means contact free. This means that the adjustment path along which the window pane moves during an adjustment movement is imposed to the window pane directly by the guiding means being different from the at least one carrier and being spaced apart contact free from said carrier, and namely at present without that the carrier would engage additionally to its connection to the flexible pulling means in a guiding direction continuing along the adjustment path, which would impose a movement along the adjustment path to the carrier.
Such window lifter are called “trackless window lifter”—in contrast to window lifters with track bound carriers, in which a guiding track is arranged to the respective carrier of the window lifter, wherein the carrier is guided along the adjustment path provided for the window pane by means of said guiding track. In case of window lifters with track guided carriers, the carrier imposes a movement along the adjustment path determined by the course of the guiding track upon the corresponding window pane fixed to said carrier. The window pane is hereby guided with its lateral edges such that said window pane can follow the adjustment path determined by he guiding track and by the carrier guided by said guiding track.
In contrast, the at least one carrier of the (trackless) window lifter assembly is at present freely guided, that means no guiding device (for instance in form of a guiding track) is assigned to said carrier, into which the carrier would engage and wherein said guiding device could impose a movement along the adjustment path upon the carrier. Accordingly, at present an adjustment movement along the adjustment path is directly imposed upon the carrier—when operating the window lifter—directly by the window pane itself, when said window pane—triggered by a drive torque of a corresponding window lifter transmitted by the flexible pulling means and the carrier—is moved along the corresponding guiding means in adjustment direction, compare for instance DE 10 2004 043 000 A1, in which different window lifter concepts are illustrated and explained.
In case of a window lifter with trackless (free) guided carrier, the assembly (installation) of carrier and window pane with the goal of fixing the window pane to the carrier and hereby to connect it to the flexible pulling means of the window lifter is regularly hindered. The assembly occurs usually in the way that the window pane guided by the corresponding guided means, as for instance lateral guiding channels at the window frame, is moved (lowered) along its adjustment path and is thereby engaged to the corresponding carrier.
In contrast to this, a track guided carrier can be positioned in a simple manner at a defined location of the adjustment path (that means in the adjustment track) of the window pane so that the window pane engages compulsory with the carrier at a determined time point via its lower edge when lowering along the adjustment path and can then be fixed via suitable fixing means to said carrier. In order to fix the carrier—being already connected to the flexible pulling means of the window lifter—at a specific location of the corresponding guiding track and therefore of the adjustment path of the window pane for instance a self-locking modification of the window lifter drive can thereby be used.
In case of a trackless guided carrier such a simple positioning in the adjustment path/adjustment track of the window pane is not possible since the adjustment section of the flexible pulling means carrying the carrier extends regularly straight forward before tying the carrier to the corresponding window pane and therefore does not continue along the usually curved adjustment path of the window pane. This means that the window pane would bypass the carrier during lowering along its curved adjustment path with the goal to engage the window pane for assembly purposes with the carrier.